Today I LearnedToday I Learned is a feature where The Takeout writers share something they learned today.

What I learned

Carrots that are a few days past their prime can be revived, even after they’ve gone a bit soft. Place the carrots in a mason jar, fill with cold water, and stick them in the fridge. After a few hours, the submerged carrots will firm up and be fine to use. You can also store carrots like this preemptively to keep them firmer longer.

A days-old carrot (left) compared to the carrot “revived” in cold water (right).Photo: Kate Bernot

Source

My friend Jess, a photographer and food stylist, is a font of these sorts of kitchen tricks. I was visiting her house, saw the jar of carrots in the fridge, and learned this handy tip. Like any good investigator, I didn’t just take her word for it, I recreated the experiment in my own house with some organic carrots. I left the bunch on my counter for three days; then, I placed a few in a jar of cold water in the fridge. The revived carrot wasn’t as good as a fresh one, but it was still useable and much firmer. You can see the side-by-side for yourself.